Helping Latinx people who inject drugs on the U.S.–Mexico border keep HIV under control
Optimizing a bio-behavioral intervention to promote viral suppression among HIV+ people who inject drugs on the U.S.-Mexico border
Trying different combinations of peer support, addiction treatment help, depression therapy, medication adherence coaching, and patient navigation to help Latinx people who inject drugs and live with HIV stay virally suppressed.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California, San Francisco NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (San Francisco, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11131196 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would be invited to join a program run at a community organization in Ciudad Juárez that combines up to four kinds of support: peer help for medication-assisted treatment (MAT), behavioral activation therapy for depression, the Life-Steps medication adherence program, and patient navigation for HIV care. Participants are randomly assigned to get none or some of these components so researchers can see which parts — alone or together — work best. You would complete a baseline survey, take part in the assigned supports, and return for visits at about 6, 9, and 12 months. The main goal is to have your viral load stay below 400 copies/mL at all follow-up visits.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Adults who identify as Latinx, inject drugs, live with HIV, and can attend services and follow-up visits at the community program in Ciudad Juárez are the intended participants.
Not a fit: People who do not inject drugs, are not in the U.S.–Mexico border area, or already have stable long-term viral suppression may not gain direct benefit from joining.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this could help people like you stay virally suppressed more consistently, improving health and lowering the chance of passing HIV to others.
How similar studies have performed: Individual approaches like peer support, MAT linkage, adherence counseling, and depression treatment have shown benefits in other studies, but using a factorial MOST design to optimize which combination works best in this specific border population is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
San Francisco, United States
- University of California, San Francisco — San Francisco, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Lechuga, Julia — University of California, San Francisco
- Study coordinator: Lechuga, Julia
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.